Even though I have friends who are gay we have never discussed issues such as these.

PLEASE DO

Your friends may be avoiding the subject fearing that you are judgmental or likely to say something that would make them have to drop you as a friend or even just that this is just something they can’t talk to you about. Prove them wrong.

Bring up the subject and let them tell you their experiences. Listen with love. I think that this will bring those friends even closer to you – they will be able to share all their life with you, not just the part that they think you will accept.

Incidentally… just some info to clear up a few misconceptions:

The Hispanic vote was pretty evenly split (53-47).

And we are not marching on Catholic Churches. Our protest is against the Mormon Church which hugely planned, manned, paid for and implemented the campaign of lies. (Those who recall their pre-1978 treatment of blacks may know what I mean when I say that this church has a long history of supporting discrimination).

Patrick answered you well.

But I do want to challenge two things you said. First: “We feel that being gay is a choice. We cannot wake up in the morning and be anything but Black.”

I cannot wake up in the morning and be anything but gay. At this point I really shouldn’t have to prove this to you. It’s just a matter of fact and not subject to what you or anyone else may feel.

Second: “Why not be satisfied with a civil union? Won’t a civil union provide as much benefit as marriage?”

This sounds very familiar. I think you’ve heard this before, but with slightly different words.

Perhaps it was “Why not be satisfied with the back of the bus? It still gets you to the same place.” Or maybe it was “Why not be satisfied with the other water faucet? It’s still the same water.”

Now before you start stating that being gay is not like being black, stop and read what I said.

I did not say that they are the same. But I will state that discrimination is the same, regardless of the target or the face that it wears.

And I will state that you, Roxy, who have experienced discrimination, should be able to recognize it when you see it. And you should be able to empathize. You’ve been there.

The issue isn’t whether blacks have different circumstances than gays. Yes, there are differences. Yes the form of discrimination was different. Yes the face that it wore was different.

But the truth is that no one, black or gay or Jew or Hindu or poor or anyone, should be told, “take this lesser position of civil unions, it’s good enough for people like you”.

I am certain, Roxy, that when you think about this later you will come to agree. People should not be forced to accept lesser by their government or by society just because of their race or their sex or their sexual orientation.

I’m sure you can testify, Roxy, that when the government starts handing out what is “good enough” for “people like you”, it does matter who the “you” is or what they’re handing out, it is never right or fair.

It used to be illegal to be gay – we were thrown in jail, castrated, subject to frontal lobotomies, etc. Being black likely meant you were a slave. Different, yes. But similar as well in some regards.

Being black means you face discrimination, but so do your parents. Being gay means you face discrimination, but you have straight parents that are sometimes the agents of that discrimination. Similar yes, but different.

Being black meant you didn’t have the same rights as whites. Being gay means you don’t have the same rights as straights. Different, but similar.

But one thing is the same – those who do not see all people as equal do so out of bigotry or prejudice, regardless of their skin color.

And by the way, just because you think it’s a choice doesn’t mean it is. After all, I could claim being black is a choice -Michael Jackson is proof that you can change. That’s a better success rate for change than we can find for people who were gay and are now straight – still looking for those.

Whereas gay Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc. are not accepted by their own ethnic communities, because they are Gay.

Then the White, Straight community doesn’t accept them because they are ethnic and Gay on top of that. Double whammy.

I don’t think that there’s any way for an “outside” ethnic community to exert influence into the “internal” politics of another community. It would be like two brothers fighting and then some third, unrelated party attempt to intercede between the two brothers. They will both tell the third party to mind their own business.

It seems that many White, Gay people can leave their ethnicity at the door and just live their own lives as Gay, White people. Not Irish, not French, not German, etc. Just Gay.

For ethnic minorities, it just seems that many of us still cling to our roots and want to be accepted by BOTH parties. Our own culture and Gays.

Perhaps we should learn something from our Gay, White brothers and sisters. That we should leave behind our ethnic identities and assume a new, unified identity, I.E. Gay.

Isn’t that what made America great many years ago? When Italians, French, Germans, Asians, Hispanics, etc. came to “America” and chose to live as “Americans” and not “Italians” or “French” or “Germans” etc.

They gave up their ethnic identities and became a new one, “American”. Doing so allowed them to become “one” identity.

United we stand. Divided we fall.

“Religious organizations that support Proposition 8 include the Roman Catholic Church], Knights of Columbus, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) a group of Evangelical Christians led by Jim Garlow and Miles McPherson, American Family Association, Focus on the Family[and the National Organization for Marriage Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, California’s largest, has also endorsed the measure. The Bishops of the California Catholic Conference released a statement supporting the proposition. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has publicly supported the proposition and encouraged their membership to support it, by asking its members to donate money and volunteer time. The First Presidency of the church announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter read in every congregation. Latter-day Saints have provided a significant source for financial donations in support of the proposition, both inside and outside the State of California. About 45% of out-of-state contributions to Protect Marriage.com has come from Utah, over three times more than any other state.”

Still, even though gays were fighting to preserve a basic right, it was the anti-equality side in California that seemed to have the most fervor. A symbolic low point for the gay side came on Oct. 13, when the Sacramento Bee ran a remarkable story about Rick and Pam Patterson, a Mormon couple of modest means – he drives a 10-year-old Honda Civic, she raises their five boys – who had withdrawn $50,000 from their savings account and given it to the pro-8 campaign. “It was a decision we made very prayerfully,” Pam Patterson, 48, told the Bee’s Jennifer Garza. “Was it an easy decision? No. But it was a clear decision, one that had so much potential to benefit our children and their children.”

This is your real enemy. Don’t trust exit polls. I think they are pitting one group against the other. African-Americans are less than 7% of the state population, do the math. Many more Whites voted and they put this over, not Blacks. What are the total numbers of each group that voted. Someone dug into the data and found that we’re just now learning is that the exit poll was based on less than 2,300 people. If you take into account that blacks in California only make up about 6.2%, we get roughly 224 blacks who were polled. 224 blacks to blame an entire race! The original percentage of black voters who were expected to say yes to Prop 8 was only around 52-58%. Anytime you get a vote that much higher over the projected vote, something went wrong.

I know someone who watches C-Span and they said most Blacks did not even address the question at all. And they do not have the money to fund a tens of millions of dollars Proposition 8 campaign. Note that they also targeted affirmative action for eradication in another state.

I cannot believe that these groups get a pass and Blacks are being targeted for the blame game. Rather than be upset at the phantom African-American menace, fight like hell. There is no right wing black conspiracy against gay Americans. When you tried to align your struggle with that of Blacks you inherited their enemies. These same enemies are now trying to pit one against the other because they fear the combined numbers of both.

How many gay activists supported the civil rights movement in the 1960’s? Then how do you automatically expect support in return? Have you asked Blacks to support you or did you just assume?

No one gave Obama anything and they will not give gays anything either. Obama stands on the shoulders of a lot of brave people who gave their lives for him to stand on that podium last night.

Never trust exits polls because in all my years of life, no one has ever been seen at a polling place asking anyone anything when they left.

Don’t fall for the lies.